This Will Still Be Relevant in 2025: “Terror Groups Are “Occupying” Solar Space in the Sahel
By Fidel Amakye Owusu
1. Countries in North Africa have in recent times invested heavily in solar energy. Morocco and Egypt are leading with the largest solar farms in that part of the continent.
2. Africa has the highest solar energy potential among all the continents. With the push for renewable energy as one of the major ways to tackle climate change, the continent could prove critical if any success could be achieved.
3. The Sahel region of West Africa and Chad is among the geographies with the best solar potentials in the continent.
4. Unfortunately, unlike their North African neighbors, states in the Sahel may not be able to utilize this strategic and clean energy shortly.
5. Why?
6. Terror groups have in the last decade found footholds in the region and are becoming more comfortable. A “federation” of Al-Qaeda affiliates, and ISIS franchises and terrorizing the region.
7. Interestingly, these groups are territory-conscious and grabbing lands across the region. Many parts of northern and central Mali, northern and south-eastern Burkina, and south-west Burkina Faso are currently under their control.
8. With solar energy requiring geographical space, the control of territory and insecurity in the region, make it almost impossible to exploit it.
9. Sahel states may therefore not be able to build solar farms like Morocco and Egypt are doing. With exponential population growth and its concomitant energy requirements, this will be unfortunate.
10. Sahel states spend significant money on fossil fuels as they are not major producers of oil and gas (Chad excluded). Solar energy could therefore offer cleaner and cheaper alternatives—violent extremism would not allow it.
11. While Burkina Faso has made some efforts to build a major solar farm near its capital of Ouagadougou, the increasing threat posed by extremists cannot guarantee the project’s security and future development of the sector in general.
12. It is therefore imperative that national, regional and global cooperation and coordination are encouraged in the fight against terrorism. When that is done, the results would be a safer globe, cheaper energy, savings for Sahel economies, and jobs for the teeming youths.
13. In these times when the world is focused on keeping the globe safe, terrorism in the Sahel should be considered a major hindrance.
14. Many more…”
#energy #africa #security DefSEC Analytics Africa Ltd unival group GmbH
By Fidel Amakye Owusu – International Relations and Security Analyst and Writer
Article Reproduced with Permission from Fidel Amakye Owusu
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